Sound Voltex


Sound Voltex is a series of music games by Konami. SOUND VOLTEX BOOTH was tested on various cities in Japan starting on August 26, 2011 until September 19, 2011. It was then released on January 18, 2012.
SOUND VOLTEX II -infinite infection-, SOUND VOLTEX III GRAVITY WARS, SOUND VOLTEX IV HEAVENLY HAVEN, and SOUND VOLTEX VIVID WAVE are sequels to SOUND VOLTEX BOOTH, released on June 5, 2013, November 20, 2014, December 21, 2016, and February 28, 2019 respectively. It has since appeared, though more limited, in arcades outside of Japan. A conversion of SOUND VOLTEX III GRAVITY WARS, with the subtitle Konami Game Station was released as a PC game on October 4, 2017.

SOUND VOLTEX overview

Sound Voltex consists of two different parts that relate to each other: Sound Voltex Booth and Sound Voltex Floor. Sound Voltex Booth is the main game, while SOUND VOLTEX FLOOR is a system wherein game content is created by Japanese artists and musicians. Content chosen from SOUND VOLTEX FLOOR will be inserted into SOUND VOLTEX BOOTH and become available in the game.
Unlike other rhythm arcade games, SOUND VOLTEX does not require the players to play the music correctly, but to make various effects on the existing music.

Gameplay

Objects

Various objects come towards player on the course lane, which consists of 6 columns of rails. The player is required to input corresponding commands when the object reaches the Critical Line at the bottom of the screen. The command required will differ, depending on the objects.

BT Objects (for upper row of buttons)

FX Objects (for lower row of buttons)

Analog Device Lines (for control knobs)

Rate systems

As the player hits the objects, a judgment is received—from highest to lowest: CRITICAL, NEAR, and ERROR—depending on the timing of hitting the objects. CRITICAL fills the rate gauge, while ERROR depletes it. The player is required to fill the rate gauge a certain amount by the time the stage ends to clear it; otherwise the player fails it, and the play session will be over. The amount required to fill the gauge will differ, depending on the rate system the player is using.

Effective Rate

Excessive Rate

Permissive Rate

Blastive/Hexa Rate

Results Screen

After the stage ends, a result screen is shown with following statuses and statistics included.

Clear Status

Track Complete
Track Crash
Saved
Ultimate Chain (UC)
Perfect Ultimate Chain (PUC, or simply Perfect)

Play Score

Clear Mark

Clear Medal

Track Played (Dark Green C)
SAVED (Blue S)
Effective Complete (Green C)
Excessive Complete (Purple C)
Ultimate Chain (Red U)
Perfect (Golden P)

Rate Energy

Judgment Counts

Maximum Chain

Achievement gauge

Stage Reward

Skill Analyzer

Skill Analyzer mode is a mode added in SDVX II, which can let the player test their Skill Level. The player first selects the course to play, and the course will immediately begin after selection. The course is harder, as the Skill Level required is higher. Each Skill Level contains 3 different courses for the player to select.
The Skill Levels are listed below:
When playing in Skill Analyzer mode, the rate system will be locked in Permissive Rate system. Starting with the initial value of 100%, the player is required to finish the course without letting the rate energy fall to 0%. The rate energy left in each previous stage will be brought to the next stage. If the rate gauge is fully depleted before the course ends, it's an instant TRACK CRASH.
The results screen for each stage will still be shown, and the player can still receive the reward, but the clear medal will remain as Track Played unless a UC or a PUC status is acquired.
After the course is over, the achievement rate and the course result will be shown.

Each track usually contains four types of effects—from easiest to hardest: NOVICE, ADVANCED, EXHAUST and MAXIMUM. For those song that does not originally contain MAXIMUM, mostly songs released until III, it will be added later. However, there are also GRAVITY, INFINITE, HEAVENLY, and VIVID effects for some tracks. These effects are harder than EXHAUST or are at the same level but completely different from EXHAUST. The player cannot simply purshased them in SOUND VOLTEX STATION, and instead they can only be unlocked by playing Blaster stages.
To unlock BLASTER charts, the following is required:
  1. Charge the Blaster Energy
  2. :The player can charge the Blaster Energy by simply playing the stages.
  3. Activate EXTrack
  4. :It can only be accessed if the blaster gauge is full.
  5. :In BLASTER START, only Blaster stages are available and no use Blaster Energy or activate EXTrack.
  6. Select the Blaster stage
  7. :The player then opens up the Blaster stage category, and selects the effect they want to unlock.
  8. :Each effect contains a Barrier Track, which is the stage the player will play.
  9. :A Full gauge of Blaster energy is consumed for each Blaster stage played or for access EXTrack.
  10. Play the Blaster stage
  11. :The rate system is locked in the Blaster Rate system. Like the Excessive Rate, the player is required to complete the stage without letting the rate energy fall to 0%. The higher the Barrier Rank, the harder the gauge falls. NEAR also depletes the gauge if the rank is high enough.
  12. :Each Barrier Track contains Target Life, which will be damaged according to the performance. The better the performance, the higher the damage.
This cycle is repeated until the Target Life is reduced to 0 and the player can get the effect.
To unlock Ω Dimension charts, the following is required:
  1. Charge the Blaster Energy
  2. Activate EXTrack
  3. :It can only be accessed if the blaster gauge is full or in BLASTER START.
  4. Select Ω Dimension
  5. :The player then opens up the Ω Dimension category, and selects the effect they want to unlock.
  6. Play the EXTrack
  7. :As of Blaster Stages, the rate system is locked in the Blaster Rate system. The "BARRIER RANK" used is determined by the difficulty played and which charts has been previously unlocked.
  8. :To unlock one of its songs for normal play, players must clear that song.
To unlock HEXA DIVER charts, the following is required:
  1. Charge the Blaster Energy
  2. Activate EXTrack
  3. :It can only be accessed if the blaster gauge is full or in BLASTER START.
  4. Select HEXA DIVER
  5. :The player then opens up the HEXA DIVER category, and selects the effect they want to unlock.
  6. Play the EXTrack
  7. :The rate system is locked in the Hexa Rate system. The "BARRIER RANK" used is adjusted by the user from 1 to 5.
  8. :To unlock one of its songs for normal play, players must clear that song.
  9. :Each Barrier Track contains Target Life, which will be damaged according to the performance. The better the performance, the higher the damage and the player can get any chart. This cycle is repeated until the Target Life is reduced to 0 and the player can get all charts.
The player can also play the Blaster stages or activate EXTrack by simply starting a play session with Blaster Start, regardless of the Blaster energy, but not in PREMIUM TIME.
From SOUND VOLTEX IV onwards, the INFINITE BLASTER unlock system has been renamed to BLASTER GATE. Also, EXTrack is similar to extra stage on other games and debuted on SOUND VOLTEX IV.

Unlocks

Like all of the BEMANI games, SOUND VOLTEX BOOTH also has its own unlocks. SOUND VOLTEX STATION is the main unlocking system in the game. Each time players play SOUND VOLTEX BOOTH, they will receive a certain amount of Blocks and Packets. Blocks are required to unlock music and Packets are used to unlock Appeal Cards, which are basically Avatars.
One of the unlocking methods is the APPEND TRAVEL event, where players clear songs from jubeat, saving their results and gameplay in an e-Amusement card when playing other BEMANI games with the card inserted. APPEND TRAVEL has the song candii unlocked, as well as its own Appeal Cards.

Music

SOUND VOLTEX's music is mainly produced by independent artists; most of the artists are VOCALOID producers. Song jackets are also created by independent artists, and some songs may have different jackets for different difficulties, as in EZ2DJ.

Sound Voltex Floor

Sound VOLTEX FLOOR is a series of contests where players compete to make audio or visual content for inclusion in SOUND VOLTEX BOOTH. Contests being held include making original songs, remixing a BEMANI song, designing a CD jacket, and designing an APPEAL CARD. The participants that are allowed to compete are Japanese, Asian or Korean residents. New contests are announced periodically, each with their own theme.